Multi-purpose inflatable platform with two floats for fast swimming, snorkelling and relax

Abstract

Multi-purpose inflatable platform consisting of two floats made up of two parallel inflatable boards (10) (20), high pressure drop-stitch type, placed edgewise, held together by a third horizontal board (30) of the same type, which ensures the rigidity of the structure, followed by a sheet (40) fixed above a part of the floats which allows a swimmer, diver or spear fisherman lying in a prone position on it, to keep the torso slightly raised from the water while swimming, in particular with fins The same platform can also be used by a person lying on the sheet (40) in a supine position to relax and sunbathe both in the water and on the beach.

Description

[0001] MULTI-PURPOSE INFLATABLE PLATFORM WITH TWO FLOATS FOR FAST SWIMMING, SNORKELLING AND RELAX

[0002] DESCRIPTION

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] The technical field of the present invention relates to inflatable beach and sea equipment, including signal buoys and support platforms for swimmers and divers, as well as swimming aids.

[0005] BACKGROUND ART

[0006] Among the recreational, motor or sports activities that can be carried out in the water, are swimming, snorkelling, diving and spearfishing. And among the existing equipment, used to practice these activities, apart from the various types of support boats, in this section some of them will be described.

[0007] To swim far from the shore, to practice snorkelling, diving and spearfishing, for safety reasons small buoys are used equipped with colored flags to signal and make the presence of the person more visible who otherwise, being at the surface of the water or even under the surface, would risk not being seen by the circulating boats. These buoys, usually inflatable, can also serve as a support to allow the swimmer to rest. There are also rigid or inflatable boards, also called bodyboards or swimboards, as well as platforms, often inflatable, that allow underwater fishermen to support the fishing equipment, and also to lean on when swimming or resting, but there are also some made of rigid or even foldable material.

[0008] To relax in the water or on the beach, inflatable mattresses or so-called beach loungers are very popular. What does not yet seem to exist, in the current state of the art, is equipment that simultaneously performs all the functions listed above, and in addition serves to move, by swimming, in particular with the push of the legs using fins on the feet, at a speed close to that of a small boat, such as a kayak for example, and which at the same time remains easily transportable.

[0009] Snorkellers, free divers and even more so spear fishermen often need to reach distant sites from where they enter the water, and without a support vessel this is not easy or in any case requires a considerable expenditure of energy.

[0010] The equipment listed above, due to the resistance of the water caused by the large wetted surface in relation to the length, hardly allows you to swim quickly and with little effort.

[0011] In fact, patent applications have been filed for platforms, swim platforms or boards that allow you to swim faster or relax in the water or act as a support for underwater fishing, but they do not optimize all the functions, including the easy transportability of an inflatable vehicle.

[0012] DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0013] The purpose of this invention is to create a swimming aid platform which, although not a real boat, allows one to move on the water at a good speed, close to that of a kayak, even without excessive effort.

[0014] A platform that can also be towed with a small rope by the swimmer, when not used as a swimming aid, offering minimal resistance, and which is equipped with a signal flag to allow swimming or underwater activities even offshore or in any case far from the shore in safety. A platform that allows, while being used by an equipped swimmer wearing a diving mask, also to take a look at the seabed.

[0015] A platform that can be used alternatively to rest or sunbathe on the water like with a mattress, or even to be used in the same way on the beach as an alternative to a sun lounger or deckchair.

[0016] A platform that can perform all the functions described above while remaining light and above all easily transportable in a bag.

[0017] To be useful for the purposes indicated, the platform that will now be described must necessarily have a certain length, approximately two or three meters, so, to be truly easily transportable, it will be inflatable.

[0018] It is an entirely inflatable structure, made with the well-known so-called drop-stitch technology, with which it is possible to obtain high-pressure inflatable boards, sufficiently rigid, robust and light.

[0019] In short, the platform includes two parallel floats, consisting of two inflatable drop-stitch boards placed edgewise, long enough and thin enough to reduce the wetted surface and thus reduce resistance to the advantage of speed. The swimmer's torso remains raised by resting on a canvas or flexible sheet stretched between the two hulls and fixed above them. To ensure the parallelism of the two hulls and the rigidity of the structure there is a connecting section, placed above the two floats below, but not adjacent to the sheet that supports the torso, consisting of a high- pressure inflatable board also of the drop-stitch type, placed horizontally and firmly fixed above them. The platform also features a signal flag placed above it and a tow rope to remain tied to the user when he swims independently or dives.

[0020] The user can rest his torso on the sheet and the floats, in a prone position with his head protruding from the sheet in the space between the latter and the horizontal connection board, so that with a diving mask he can also immerse it to see the seabed, at the same time he will have his legs protruding from the other side of the sheet, with which he can apply a propulsive thrust, better with fins on his feet, with the result of moving forward quickly having the torso raised on the water, which therefore does not generate resistance. In practice, a good forward speed is ensured by the fact that only the two long, thin hulls and part of the legs that generate the thrust with the fins will be in contact with the water, although the swimmer could also help himself with his hands and arms by using them laterally in relation to the floats.

[0021] On the same platform, the user can also lie down in a supine position to relax or sunbathe, both on the water and on the beach, sitting down and resting his back on the sheet while his shoulders and head or even just his head rest on the horizontal board.

[0022] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention will be better understood with the help of the description of embodiments of realisation provided by way of example and not limitation, illustrated by the following figures, not necessarily to scale, of which:

[0024] - Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the platform seen from above.

[0025] - Fig. 2 shows a section of the platform seen from the front in which the internal filaments of the drop-stitch fabric are schematized.

[0026] - Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the platform.

[0027] - Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the platform used as a swimming aid.

[0028] - Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the platform used for relaxation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] The multi-purpose inflatable platform with two floats, for fast swimming, snorkelling and relax, object of the present invention, as claimed, comprises, in each of its embodiments, two parallel floats, each consisting of a high-pressure inflatable board, of the drop-stitch type, placed edgewise. Such boards, widely used to make surfboards and SUP (Stand Up Paddle) are characterized by being very rigid once inflated to high pressure (about 10-15 psi), thanks to a myriad of internal filaments perpendicular to the walls of the board that guarantee the planarity of the walls, which are then sealed through one or more perimeter bands of rubberized or plasticized fabric that ensure air-tightness.

[0030] Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the platform seen from above, the left float 10, the right float 20, the main connection section 30 and the second connection section 40 are highlighted.

[0031] Figure 2 shows a section of the two tables 10 and 20 placed on edge where the horizontal filaments that ensure the planarity of the float walls are schematized.

[0032] As can be seen in figure 2, section 30 has vertical internal filaments and is fixed above the upper edge of the boards placed edgewise. The sides in contact between the boards can be glued or welded together and to prevent the pressure inside the floats from detaching them from the upper section, they can be reinforced with flexible angle brackets 15, made of plasticized fabric, glued or welded along the entire length of the joint with the board placed above. This naturally means that the latter protrudes by a few centimetres both to the right and to the left, as can be seen in figure 2. It is important to note how the horizontal board 30, inflated at high pressure and firmly fixed above the floats, also inflated at high pressure, guarantees the parallelism of the latter and the rigidity of the entire structure.

[0033] The second section 40 may be made of a canvas, a synthetic fabric covered with a plastic substance or other flexible material, which is welded or glued above the floats, on a portion of the same close to but not adjacent to the main section 30, so that when the horizontal board 30 and the two floats are inflated, the second section will be lying and stretched between the two floats.

[0034] The second section 40 has the function of supporting the swimmer's torso 4 raised from the water, and being flexible it will also be comfortable for the user.

[0035] The fact that this section 40 does not have to be joined to the main section 30 is intended to have an empty space between the two sections, a space which, being located in correspondence with where the swimmer in the prone position has his head fig 4, will allow the latter, wearing a diving mask, to see the seabed from time to time, simply by lowering his head a little to put the mask in contact with the surface of the water.

[0036] As seen in fig. 4, the swimmer has his torso on the flexible section 40, while the head protrudes towards the first section, and the legs protrude on the other side, between the floats at the rear of the platform, in this way they are free to move to apply a forward thrust especially when wearing a pair of fins on the feet.

[0037] In this way it is possible to push the platform at a reasonable speed as the torso is lifted from the water and therefore does not offer resistance, only the two long floats placed edgewise will be immersed in the water, therefore with a limited wet surface, and part of the legs that push in the water, if desired the swimmer can also use the arms which, by protruding laterally, can contribute to the push in the water.

[0038] In all the drawings, except in figure 2, the inflation valves 25 are shown, placed on each individual inflatable board, so that each board has an independent air chamber, also for safety reasons, furthermore a flagpole complete with flag 35 is shown which has the purpose of signalling the presence of the swimmer, or diver, in the water, so that the platform can be used, even as if it were a buoy, towed with a rope by the diver or person swimming offshore or in any case far from the shore, so as to be able to move safely to always be visible and avoid being hit by other boats.

[0039] This flag can be mounted on a rigid or flexible pole and applied to the platform in a fixed or movable manner. Furthermore, its position, as well as the position of the inflation valves, can vary from that shown in the drawings.

[0040] Figure 5 shows how the platform can also be used for relaxation, by a user lying on it in a supine position, in this case the second section supports the back and the lower part of the torso, the legs rest partly on the floats and the head alone or together with the shoulders on the horizontal board 30. The horizontal board 30 will normally have a rectangular shape, arranged longitudinally, to better ensure the rigidity of the structure, however, the short sides may have a rounded shape 5, as shown in the drawings, in particular, this shape is more enveloping and comfortable to accommodate the shoulders of those lying in a supine position or to have more empty space between the sections for the swimmer in a prone position.

[0041] On the upper surface of the horizontal board, and / or on its edge 5 facing the other section, a layer, not shown in the drawings, of soft material such as EVA or similar can be glued in order to make it more comfortable to rest the head and or shoulders on, since the drop-stitch fabric, when inflated under high pressure, is rather rigid.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Multi-purpose inflatable platform for fast swimming, snorkelling and relaxation with two parallel floats held together by connecting sections CHARACTERISED BY THE FACT OF including: a left-hand float (10) consisting of a high-pressure, drop-stitch type inflatable board, placed edgewise, meaning that the thickness of the board constitutes the width of the float and the width of the board constitutes the height of the float, consisting of a left-hand side planar surface and a right-hand side planar surface held together by multiple horizontally arranged filaments and a perimeter closure band; a right-hand float (20) consisting of a high-pressure, drop-stitch type inflatable board, placed edgewise, meaning that the thickness of the board constitutes the width of the float and the width of the board constitutes the height of the float, consisting of a left-hand side planar surface and a right-hand side planar surface held together by multiple horizontally arranged filaments and a perimeter closure band; a first main connecting section (30) consisting of a high-pressure, dropstitch type inflatable board, horizontally arranged and fixed above a portion of the upper side of the floats, of sufficient size to ensure both the parallelism of the floats and the rigidity of the whole structure when inflated to an appropriate pressure; a second connecting section (40) fixed above another portion of the upper side of the floats and placed close, but not contiguous, to the first section (30), consisting of a canvas or sheet of flexible material, similar in shape to a rectangle, the edges of the long side of which are fixed above a portion of the upper side of the floats in such a way that when said floats and the first connecting section are inflated and under pressure the second section isstretched out between the floats to form a support surface sufficient to support, raised a few centimetres from the water, the trunk of a swimmer (4) who, in a prone position, will have his head protruding from the sheet in correspondence with the space between the first and second sections, and his legs protruding from the opposite side of the sheet.

2. Multi-purpose inflatable platform for fast swimming, snorkelling and relaxation with two parallel floats held together by connecting sections according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT OF INCLUDING, fixedly or movably installed, a pole with a signal flag (35) suitable for signalling the presence of a swimmer or diver.

3. Multi-purpose inflatable platform for fast swimming, snorkelling and relaxation with two parallel floats held together by connecting sections according to claim 2 CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT that on the drop-stitch type board constituting the main connecting section there is glued some soft material of eva type or the like, and that said board has the edge (5) facing the second section, of a shape similar to an inverted U, seen from above and from the side of the second section.

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